Eupen - historical town and today's capital

Eupen is known far and wide for the convalescent and curative quality of its air. As the administrative centre of the DG, the parliament, the government and its ministries represent a significant portion of town life. Eupen currently boasts the only active railway terminal in East Belgium. It was originally built in 1863 as a link to the Antwerp-Brussels-Liege-Aachen-Cologne line.

Textile industry

Eupen was once an important centre for the wool trade. Fine broadcloth was woven here for export, from the late 17^th up to the early years of the last century.The main reason for this was the softness and acidity of the river water coming off the Fen, which made it ideal for washing the sensitive fibres of natural lambs wool. Many of the fine baroque houses from this period still stand as witnesses to the wealth of the wool merchants. Today, the wool trade has given way to mechanical component manufacture, metalworking and plastic moulding, cable and conduit production, as well as a very active transport and logistics sector.

Water and woodland

Visit Eupen's beautiful reservoir with its dramatically situated dam. It was built between 1935 and 1951 to ensure freshwater supplies for Eupen, Liege and the Herver Land. The pedagogical nature centre, "Haus Ternell", with its "Geo-path" and Forestry Museum is the starting point for many a ramble among the woods and glades, rivers and streams of this fascinating area.

El Dorado for smugglers

In this complex network of tracks and valleys, you can cross a national border without noticing it, so be careful what you carry. After all, you wouldn't want to be caught smuggling! Between the two World Wars, Eupen was a smugglers' El Dorado, as alcohol, cigarettes and other luxury items crossed the highly porous Dutch and German frontiers. Prior to this, textile workers from Membach and Baelen had smuggled food out of Eupen, which was Prussian at the time, into Belgium. During the Nazi occupation, people themselves were the high-risk contraband, while in the post-war years, vast quantities of Belgian coffee quietly slipped over by moonlight.

Situation: in the North of the DG, bordering the High Fen
Population: 17.551 (P W-G)
Area: 103.7 km² (P W-G)
Localities: Kettenis, Eupen